This past weekend wrapped up the regular season of play in the W. In reguards the the two ties between UND and SCSU, all I can say is "UW is wishing they would have counted that goal at DU, so they would have home ice, what a difference ONE point makes." UMD and UM both found some offense this past weekend as they split a pair in Minneapolis. CC looked to be helping DU with their, now almost standard, second half collapse. MSUM might have let up off the gas pedal and coasting on Saturday as they split with Jeckle & Hyde MTU Huskies.
Now lets look at this weekends WCHA 1st Round Playoff games.
#10. University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves at #1. Colorado College Tigers
The Seawolves find themselves in a common situation, playing the top seed on the road to start the playoffs. UAA has last week off to rest and no doubt were preparing for this series against CC. The group from "up north" should not be taken to lightly, as remember last year they took a game from the Gophers in the first round in Minneapolis. CC has been rolling along pretty good, they swept their arch-rival DU last weekend. In the process, the Tigers retained their Gold Pan, and add the MacNaughton Cup to boot. The question will be "Are they ready for UAA or have they been looking at their reflections on those shiny trophies?"
THEE CALL - UAA wins Friday, which scares the $#@& out of CC, but they bounce back to win Saturday and Sunday. CC punches their ticket to the Final Five.
#9. Michigan Technological University Huskies at #2. University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux
Both teams are coming off 2 point weekends. MTU has been going the wrong direction this second half, and other than the CC series, have not been all the impressive. UND had avoided the injury bug for most of the season, now it has hit them. Chay Genoway (Soph. Def), Evan Trupp (Fres. Fwd), and TJ Oshie (Jr. Fwd), I don't know if they will all be back this weekend or a couple of them... The Sioux do have some depth at forward, so they should be able to put up some goals this weekend. MTU's goalies have been playing good this second half, but where playing better in the first half of the season. The Huskies will do some barking and growling this weekend, since they have a slim, slim chance of making the NCAA tourney.
THEE CALL - SIOUX SWEEP, and the Huskies go back to Houghton with their tails between their legs.
#8. University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs at #3. University of Denver Pioneers
Have the Bulldogs found their offense? If they can score 3 goals they can win, if they don't they don't seem to win. Can the Pioneers stop their slide? DU has a 6-9-1 record since January 1, and have not beat anyone in the top half of the WCHA. Could this be a repeat of their 2005 playoff series? UMD is also one of the bubble NCAA teams and DU is still in the NCAA, but if they keep losing, they might be watching the F4 from the stands.
THEE CALL - Dog Days of Summer, UMD wins in 3.
#7. University of Minnesota Golden Gophers at #4. Minnesota State Univeristy Mankato Maveriks
The Mavericks have been one of the stronger teams the second half of the season, having a 9-4-0 record in the last 13 games. The Gophers have a 6-5-7 record since January 1, with 2 of those wins against Wayne State (CHA). The Mavericks have been getting scoring from a variety of players as of late, and the Gophers are just looking to get any sort of score. With the anemic offense of the Gophers, they will not go very far into the playoffs. The goaltending and defense will have to continue to play well, if the Mavericks wish to make a run in the playoffs.
THEE CALL - MSUM sweeps
#6. University of Wisconsin Badgers at #5. Saint Cloud State University Huskies
These teams just meet two weeks ago, which ended in a split between them. The Badgers need to win this series to keep their hopes alive of playing in Madison in the NCAA tourney. SCSU needs to win, to helps secure their spot in the NCAA tourney, and to keep the Badgers out. There was a little pushing and shoving in the last series between these two teams, and who knows, we might see some of that this weekend as well. These teams are both sporting very similiar records SCSU is 17-14-5(12-12-4 WCHA) and UW is 15-14-7 (11-12-5 WCHA).
THEE CALL - SCSU in 3
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